Wednesday, February 23, 2011

ICC CWC LIVE: PAK vs KEN: Pakistan are in trouble having lost openers Hafeez and Shehzad. Kenya on fire. Elijah Otieno and Thomas Odoyo are on the ball. Click through for LIVE STREAMING!

The Toss

Pakistan have won the toss and elected to bat first against Kenya in their ICC Cricket World Cup tie on Wednesday.

Match Preview

Having suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Ireland, which eventually resulted in their first exit from the ICC CWC's 2007 edition, Pakistan will be wary of taking their opponents lightly this time around.

In fact, captain Shahid Afridi has already warned his team to take every opponent seriously.

"There have been so many upsets in the World Cup in the past, like the one against Ireland four years ago. So we have that in mind and we will be on our toes in every match, be it Kenya or Sri Lanka," said Afridi.

Going into the match, Pakistan will take heart from their recent 3-2 one-day series victory over New Zealand in New Zealand just before the ICC CWC..

And even though they had mixed fortunes in their two warm-up games -- a win against Bangladesh and a defeat against England, Pakistan are well aware that if they play as a unit, they have enough firepower to go a long way in the tournament.

Pakistan's batting consisting of the likes of Mohammad Hafeez, former captain Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Akmal brothers -- Kamran and Umar, has the reputation of creating quite a flutter in the opposition camp.

In the absence of their banned opener Salman Butt, Pakistan will be banking on Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad in the opening slot, followed by the more experienced middle-order.

Veteran Younis Khan is expected to bring in stability with all his experience of playing international cricket, followed by Test skipper and in-form Misbah and the two Akmals.

And with captain Shahid Afridi and allrounder Abdul Razzaq coming down the order, Pakistan should not have any trouble blowing the Kenyans away in their inaugural match.

As far as bowling department is concerned, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul would be looking to go for the kill from the very first ball. This match will also give both the pacemen an opportunity to get back to their peak form.

Even Saeed Ajmal will get a chance to experiment with his doosra before his team face bigger names during the course of the tournament. Allrounder Afridi's fast-wrist spin is also expected to come in handy against the African nation.

Pakistan vs Kenya in ODIs/ICC Cricket World Cup

Pakistan have won all the five ODIs against Kenya between 1996 & 2004. The two countries would be meeting for the first time in the ICC Cricket World Cup.

World Cup overall

Pakistan have won 30 and lost 24 (NR 2) out of 56 contested - winning % 55.55

Kenya have won six and lost 17 out of 24 played (NR 1) - success % 26.08.

Approaching milestones

- Abdul Razzaq (4959) requires 41 runs to complete his 5000 runs.

- Having claimed 262 wickets in 254 matches, Razzaq is all set to complete the double of 5000 runs and 200 wickets.

- Younis Khan is set to post his first fifty in the World Cup. In the previous two World Cups, he did not make any impression with the bat.